OTTI is open to any member on the planet Earth ... and interplanetary members!

This post almost prompted me to use one of my email addresses to create an alternate account. Username: "MarsCuriosityRover" Which would post in OTTI topics begging to be included due to lack of good tea on Mars. I would also often complain about how hard it is to get the water to suitable temps on Mars.

OTTI is open to any member on the planet Earth ... and interplanetary members!

Great then. I will read the conditions to be able to participate in the next one.

This post almost prompted me to use one of my email addresses to create an alternate account. Username: "MarsCuriosityRover" Which would post in OTTI topics begging to be included due to lack of good tea on Mars. I would also often complain about how hard it is to get the water to suitable temps on Mars.

It seems appropriate that today I am drinking Mountain Tea's medium roast dong ding special reserve. I'm using 10g in a 150ml gaiwan(though I haven't been filling to the top) and even the first wash has lots of nice flavor. Unfortunately this is the first dong ding oolong I've tried so I have nothing to compare it to!

I quite like this oolong. I've had a few oolongs that are wonderfully creamy and subtly sweet. This particular oolong has a lingering sweetness that I like. Where does this come from? Is it when the younger leaves are used since they have more sugars in them?

I like roast. Many tea merchants don't list the levels of oxidation and roast in their tea. Is there any other well to tell this? Is it the name that gives me a hint (ie dong ding tends to be around 30% roast right?)?

javi_sanchez wrote:I quite like this oolong. I've had a few oolongs that are wonderfully creamy and subtly sweet. This particular oolong has a lingering sweetness that I like. Where does this come from? Is it when the younger leaves are used since they have more sugars in them?

I like roast. Many tea merchants don't list the levels of oxidation and roast in their tea. Is there any other well to tell this? Is it the name that gives me a hint (ie dong ding tends to be around 30% roast right?)?

With oxidation, you can maybe be that specific, but I don't think there's any way to precisely quantify a level of roast. There are different types of roasting - different heat sources, heat levels, different durations, whether, and how long the tea is rested between successive roasts, etc. All of these things affect the final result.

Even using terms like "high fire", "sufficient fire", "murder death roast", or "low fire" are pretty imprecise. We may all have an idea of what these mean to us, but I haven't found a lot of agreement about what most of these terms mean.

Absent being able to examine the dry and wet leaves and drink the tea in person, pictures of the dry and wet leaves, and the brewed tea broth are very useful in terms of assessing how a tea is made. But when specifying in words, rather than "60% roasted", I prefer the way Jing Teashop specifies it, e.g., "10 hours over hardwood charcoal".

That said, from what little I understand, many roasters use their senses ("when it smells good"), more than a fixed "recipe".

I think sweetness can come from multiple sources -- from roasting and from oxidation, as well as from the tea base itself. So the result is a combination of these factors. I have had teas with a apparently (comparatively) low level of roasting which have quite a bit of sweetness. I have also had teas with a moderate or heavy roast which are unpleasant and not at all sweet, even after plenty of time to rest.

With some teas, the smell under a gaiwan lid will smell very much like the smell of sticking your head over roasting tea, which is to say, very, very good.

Thanks I figured such things are imprecise by nature. I got the pleasure to stand next to a roaster making hojicha while sightseeing in Japan. That smell and cacao roasting has got to be my favorite smells in the world! Completely intoxicating.

Drinking my cheap, Chaozhou-direct Dancong this morning, aka speedball in a gaiwan. Intense flavor and it gives me more energy than coffee, although there is a hint of chlorophyll unpleasantness that I'm hoping will dissipate with time. I love the way this tea gets me moving, so I may buy another few lbs of it for the future.

I also have some of SC's Winter SLX going in another gaiwan...by far the most complex greener oolong I've ever tried (not that I've tried all that many)! There are so many layers to it it leaves me in disbelief.

jayinhk, "speedball in a gaiwan" won't be in the advertising for that, I assume. Wait until you come off your "high" before you order those pounds of tea, you might change the order to ounces. lol

I've started the day w/ what I think is a dong ding. Courtesy of gasninja, I find myself completely satisfied w/ what at first seems to be a simple, gentle roasted flavor. Sitting at the computer w/ the first cup finished, the wonderful flavor is lingering w/ additional flavors appearing in the aftertaste which is lasting so long. What a terrific tea!

I may be on my way to descending down a slippery slope, as I fear this higher quality tea is not only better than what I have been buying but also more expensive. Yesterday, I tried a Mi Xiang oolong from Global Tea Hut that also was completely free of "distraction" (such as bitterness) & seemingly "simple" in flavor but likewise very satisfying.

ethan wrote:jayinhk, "speedball in a gaiwan" won't be in the advertising for that, I assume. Wait until you come off your "high" before you order those pounds of tea, you might change the order to ounces. lol

I've been drinking it for a few weeks now: at around $13 a lb including shipping, it won't break the bank.